‘If someone comes up with something out of the ordinary I'm definitely up for it’

Last week a picture came along on facebook of 2 welsh ponies for the sleigh! I immediately recognized the approved welsh a stallion Chestnut Court Amico. How fun is it to ride your ponies in front of a sleigh and what will these ponies do in daily life I wondered! Kim de Groot is happy to answer these questions about her ponies.

What ponies do you have in front of the sleigh?

On the left is Chestnut Court Amico and on the right is High Flown's Breezer.

Tell a little more about your ponies, age, pedigree and character

Chestnut Court Amico is an 11-year-old approved breeding stallion.
His pedigree is Chestnut Court Legacy x Boster Goldleaf.

Breezer is a 5-year-old son of Amico and his pedigree is Chestnut Court Amico x Bryn Storm.

Before I had Amico and Breezer I rode a two-span shetlanders. I started driving them, because I was getting too big to ride them. Because I wanted to progress further I started looking for bigger ponies. Amico and Breezer then came my way and have been mine since November 2017. Breezer was still a 2-year-old at the time, so I first started driving with Amico in single pair. Amico taught me a lot in terms of driving.

With the shetlanders I was basically just doing whatever and through Amico I started to learn more dressage wise as well. He is very well behaved for a stallion. I can unharness him at 3 meters from mares and with training he wants to work very hard. Also when I train with Breezer I sometimes let Amico loose in the arena. So he can stand outside a bit longer. Then he will always walk behind the cart very jealous or stand in a corner and watch.

Sure, he is still a stallion and wants to show himself sometimes, but he never does this when he is in harness. Breezer, on the contrary, is a lot calmer. Most people always think Amico is great, but when they see the ponies in real life most of them think Breezer is the best. Although Breezer is quieter, he is a very hard worker and likes to sprint sometimes. Last summer I put Breezer under saddle and he is doing very well.

How did you come up with the idea of the sleigh and in implementing this plan?

The sleigh is from Johan van Veluw as are the bells on the harness. November 24 I received an email from Johan with a picture of the sleigh and a video of the ringing bells with the joke “are your ponies tame?”. You don't have to say that to me a second time, so I immediately got excited.

I have no idea if he meant it as a joke, but I did think this is what we are going to do now too! So me and a friend Iro unpacked right away by both buying Christmas outfits. Another friend also had Christmas bandages and a strap with bells for on the nosebands of the bridles.

Johan came to me with the sleigh and harness on Sunday, December 6. Of course I had washed the ponies' legs and braided their manes, because this way we could make an original Christmas picture. The sleigh and harness are now for sale at Van Veluw mensport.

To be safe, we first strapped the ponies to the marathon wagon with just the bell harness for a while, as we still had brakes on this and so the ponies could get used to the noise of the bells and plumes.

At this the ponies were super well behaved so pretty soon we changed them to the sleigh. This was very different pulling for Amico and Breezer and they found this very exciting at first, but after 2 rounds it was actually already good and the ponies walked on their own legs. There is no brake on the horse-drawn sleigh and we still wanted to do a lap in the village, so we changed the ponies back to the marathon carriage and did a lap around Maarssendorp with the bells.

What do you normally do with your double span ponies?

Normally I train the ponies and ride competitions. This year my plan was actually to start compound competitions with the two-horse team, but the competitions with the ponies

have been on the back burner since the 2019/2020 indoor season. This is because I really wanted to go to the youth European Championships in Lamotte-Beuvron, but because Breezer is only 5, he is too young to start internationally. Therefore, I then started training my Gelderlander mare and with that I also started riding selections.

I certainly didn't stand still with the ponies. I kept training with them and every now and then we went to a competition. Now I take lessons with the ponies from Berry van den Bosch and Hans Zumbrink and my ponies and I learn a lot from them and I notice that they improve a lot. Also, the ponies are both ridden under saddle once or twice a week.

Do you do playful things like this with your ponies more often?

Not often, but I always like variety. When it snows I put the ponies in front of a children's sled and we always try to participate in the Eper horse four-day event as well. If someone comes up with something unusual I am definitely up for it.

Anything else you'd like to add or a fun fact about your welsh ponies?

Because of Amico and Breezer, I really started learning to drive. Last year, when Breezer was 4, we already became club champions of the Roach Riders. And we were allowed to ride at the NK. With Amico I have also been very active in the youth of driving district West, because of that I rode with Amico at the Strijd der Districten, Paard&koets and 2 times at the NK ponies in Oirschot.

Since October of this year I have also added a 3rd pony, Windhoek Scott, also a son of Amico. He is exactly Amico in appearance and behavior, sometimes you have to look twice to see who is who. Scott is almost 2.5 years old and I am now quietly, playfully training him to form a team with Amico and Breezer in the future. I also keep track of the lives of my ponies and horses on an instagram page, kimdegroothorses.

Source: NWPCS

Photos: Own property of Kim de Groot